A series of deafening roars erupted!
The lightning Jingyu spat transformed into a tempestuous thunderstorm; arcs of lightning danced wildly across the sky, threatening to tear the blood mist to shreds, while Demon Monarch Tongyou's Yin Thunder detonated simultaneously.
Daoist Chongyi wore a calm expression as he channeled his secret treasure, sweeping out waves of wondrous light in rapid succession. Qin Sang and the others also displayed their respective techniques to lend their aid.
Their target was none other than the central Black Pagoda!
Boom! Boom!
Jingyu had spoken the truth. The Black Pagoda withstood their bombardment as though it truly existed; nothing about it suggested an illusion.
Thunder erupted, churning the blood mist into utter upheaval with rumbling crashes.
The shockwaves traveled far into the distance, shaking the entire grand array.
Meanwhile, at the core of the Black Pagoda array.
The Sin Abyss cultivators had already broken through the illusion, found the passage, and entered the real world hidden beneath it.
It was an enormous space, gloomy and terrifying, thick with dense blood mist.
Standing there, one could clearly see the black pagodas towering at the four corners.
These four black pagodas truly existed. Between them ran a barrier formed by restrictions, sealing this space off from the outside world.
Like the Black Pagoda array itself, the restriction had inevitably suffered damage, but being at the core of the grand array, it was well protected and had sustained comparatively lighter harm.
There were no other structures in this space—it was utterly desolate, save for a square blood pool the size of a lake. The pool was filled with bloody water, the very same that manifested as the Blood Lake through the seal outside.
The stench of blood was overpowering and laden with blood poison; a single breath of it would bring a splitting headache and dizzying confusion.
All along the edge of the blood pool lay thick black chains.
It was impossible to tell what material these black chains were forged from; they gleamed with a gem-like luster and were covered in all manner of peculiar runes, some broken and others intact.
Each was as thick as a human head, interlocked link by link and extraordinarily heavy.
One end of each chain was anchored to the edge of the pool, while the other extended into the blood water, sinking deep below the surface to connect to who knew what.
At this moment, above the blood pool, Old Demon Ye sat cross-legged in midair.
To his left and right stood two figures: one was Old Man Tianzheng, and the other was Old Demon Ye's Blood Demon Incarnation, who had reunited with them at some unknown point.
Centered around the three of them, the rest looked down intently at the blood pool below, driving their magic treasures to incessantly bombard the seal over the pool.
The blood pool remained calm and mirror-like.
Yet those black chains constantly flared with runes, warding off every incoming attack.
Under their relentless onslaught, the radiance radiating from the runes was beginning to fracture.
Just then, Old Man Tianzheng's expression suddenly shifted. He turned his palm and took out an ancient mirror.
Before he could activate the mirror to inspect the surroundings, a tremendous boom rang out, accompanied by violent tremors.
Old Man Tianzheng poured true essence into the ancient mirror. He had left behind contingencies outside beforehand, and sure enough, the mirror now revealed a group of figures attacking the Black Pagoda illusion.
Yet before he could get a clear look, a cold snort echoed from within the mirror, shattering the reflection on the spot.
"Not good! They've tracked us down!"
The crowd was shocked.
"How can that be?!"
"To think they could decipher the patterns of the Black Pagoda array so quickly and find its core!"
...
They all found it utterly inconceivable. Earlier, they had used tactics to force the opposition to split into two groups and delay them, believing their plan was foolproof, yet an unforeseen development had occurred anyway.
The enemy had found their way here ahead of schedule and had even seen through the illusion.
It was entirely unexpected!
Old Man Tianzheng's expression flickered erratically. He glanced at Old Demon Ye, only to find him staring fixedly at the blood pool, absorbed in attacking the seal and turning a completely deaf ear to the commotion outside.
He then turned to look at Old Demon Ye's Blood Demon Incarnation.
The Blood Demon Incarnation sneered. "Don't look at me. This old man led them away in person. Unless there's a grandmaster of formations among them, ghosts only know how they found this place."
"Even Leng Yuntian of the Yuanshen Sect doesn't have such skill!" Old Man Tianzheng declared flatly, wracking his brain in vain to understand where things had gone wrong.
Yet the reality lay squarely before them, leaving no time for pondering; they had to react and intercept the incoming foes.
He cast a glance at the blood pool, then looked around the room and gave orders: "The seal is on the verge of breaking; under no circumstances can we allow them inside. Just now, Fellow Daoist Ye and I used the secret technique obtained from searching the demon's soul to thoroughly probe below. The person sealed beneath the blood pool should no longer be able to stir up trouble, so he poses no concern. Fellow Daoist Ye and I are enough here. I ask the rest of you to assist Fellow Daoist Jiang Chenzi in laying out the Treasure Banner Grand Array at the entrance to hold off the enemies!"
As he spoke, Old Man Tianzheng looked toward Jiang Chenzi and the two others holding the treasure banners.
The treasure banners served as the array eyes.
Exchanging glances, Jiang Chenzi and his companions moved off to activate their banners.
Outside the illusion.
Under the continuous bombardment of Demon Monarch Tongyou and the others, the illusory Black Pagoda grew battered beyond recognition. It shook violently and finally collapsed with a resounding crash.
The moment the pagoda collapsed, the debris abruptly vanished, leaving behind only a dark, gaping hole.
Jingyu sent a voice transmission saying this was the entrance. Overjoyed, the crowd was just about to step forward and investigate when three petite treasure banners rose slowly from within, followed by an explosion of blood-red light.
At the same time, a thunderous shout boomed: "Get back!"
"A banner array!" Qin Sang let out a cold snort.
The Sin Abyss cultivators were indeed here. Alerted by their destruction of the illusion, they had deployed a banner array here to wait at their leisure.
To enter, they had to break the banner array first.
In the next breath, the banner array encircled them completely, then vanished in a flash as boundless bloody light filled their vision, engulfing them within.
Whoosh!
Vastly experienced, the group struck in unison the moment the banner array appeared, targeting one of the treasure banners in pursuit.
That banner transformed into a gateway of fluttering flags, rustling loudly. Seeing the incoming attacks, several figures suddenly stepped out from behind the gate, led by none other than Jiang Chenzi.
"Break!" Jiang Chenzi bellowed, jabbing a finger toward them.
The banner gate swept forward as torrents of blood-red light surged like a mighty river, dispersing everyone's Daoist arts with immense force and leaving their magic treasures flickering and scattered.
Alarmed, everyone hastily recalled their magic treasures. Right then, the bloody light flared violently ahead, and both the gate and Jiang Chenzi's group vanished into thin air.
So this is the true might of that banner array. Fortunately I reacted quickly back then, or either the Snake King or I would likely have been left behind!
Qin Sang was secretly unnerved.
Back then, only Jiang Chenzi and two others had operated the array, and before they could fully deploy the complete banner formation, Qin Sang had fouled one banner with his Foul Blood Divine Light, breaking it.
Now that multiple Sin Abyss Nascent Soul cultivators were jointly running the array, its power was on an entirely different level.
He had already used up his Foul Blood Divine Light, and Sin Abyss would never give him a chance to target the banners.
For a time, they were trapped in the bloody light, unable to locate the three banner gates. Meanwhile, the banner array grew increasingly fierce; boundless bloody light swelled into towering, ferocious waves, presenting a terrifying and suffocating spectacle.
"Fellow Daoist Tongyou, quickly set up the Inverted Nine Palaces Array!" Qingjun shouted.
Demon Monarch Tongyou nodded, turning his palm to retrieve several slender jade talismans.
These jade talismans were as thin as paper, each inscribed with a vivid, lifelike depiction of a divine heavenly palace.
This Inverted Nine Palaces Array was precisely a set of array implements forged by the Two Domains Alliance specifically for the expedition to the Blood Lake, an endeavor that had cost immense energy and resources.
Chapter 1258